The city of Anna Maria is short one commissioner and, by December, another vacancy will occur.
In the meantime, city officials need to determine how those seats will be filled.
Commissioners reached consensuses Sept. 21 to move forward with the groundwork for an appointment process to select successors for Commissioners Robert Kingan and Deanie Sebring.
Kingan decided against running to retain his seat in the November election and no one stepped up to run in his place. So the post will become vacant when his term expires Dec. 7.
Sebring announced earlier that she is moving to Biron in southwest France by Oct. 7 and the Sept. 21 meeting was her last. She left the meeting early and was not in attendance for the discussion.
It’s likely her seat will remain vacant for the rest of the year.
Mayor Dan Murphy recommended opening applications for candidates in November and filling both vacancies by a vote of the three remaining commissioners at a meeting in January 2024.
Commissioners reached consensus to move forward with Murphy’s suggestion but had a harder time determining how to fill the uneven vacant terms.
Sebring’s term runs through December 2024. So her successor will have about a year to serve in the role following their appointment.
Since Kingan’s term will expire in December, his successor will enter a full two-year term on the board.
So, who gets what?
Murphy recommended giving the two-year term to the applicant with the most votes and the one-year term to the applicant with the second-most votes.
Commissioner Charlie Salem said they could vote to fill the two-year term first, then vote again to fill the one-year term.
During public comment, former Commissioner Doug Copeland said the city should accept separate applications for the two seats since some people might only be interested in serving for one year.
City attorney Becky Vose recommended they allow the candidate with the most votes to choose between the two terms, leaving the other term to the candidate with the second-most votes.
Commissioners agreed to move forward with Vose’s solution.
Murphy said the city will open applications for both vacancies Wednesday, Nov. 1, and close submissions by mid-December.
He said the city will hold a special meeting in early January 2024 for candidates to introduce themselves and answer questions gathered from the public, the same process used this January when commissioners appointed Salem to a vacancy.
Salem called for the city to allow live questioning from the public during the special meeting to encourage public input.
Commissioners will meet Thursday, Jan. 11, to vote on appointments.
To qualify for a commission seat, people must have maintained a residency within the city for at least two years, be a qualified voter of the city, and cannot be employed by the city or hold any other municipal office.
City commissioners receive a $4,800 annual salary.
The commission will meet next at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive.
Directions to attend via Zoom can be found on the city’s website, cityofannamaria.com.